INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

International Organizational Behaviour

In What Ways Are American Based Theories Of Motivation & Leadership Applicable On Other Countries?

Introduction

Language and religion have long been recognized as core elements of imperialism - a condition of dominance by one nation over others resulting from an unequal distribution of power, usually associated with economic and technological superiority. The legacies of nineteenth- and twentieth-century European imperialism are visible in all parts of the globe, in every aspect of cultural, social an d economic life (Isbister, 1993). As the twentieth century draws to a close, the imperialist tradition is still alive, but is carried more by economic and political ideologies than it is by religious traditions. The new wave of proselytizers consists, mostly, of technocrats and entrepreneurs rather than of theologians and administrators. But the effects on developing countries of certain elements of the “new colonialism” can be said to be as damaging to economies, cultures and natural environments as were older, more obviously invasive, forms (Tully, 1992).

In developing countries, of course, there is much greater awareness now than there used to be of the nature and pervasiveness of imperialism. As a result, in some countries there is mounting reluctance to conform to ideals “born in the USA” concerning - for example - the nature of governance (UNDP, 1995; World Bank, 1992), particularly systems of political and social control, human rights and to some extent systems of macro-economic management, and the meaning of “development” itself (Blunt, 1995b).

The crude idea that “West is best” is not confined to questions of macro governance, however, as Hofstede (1987, 1993) has argued persuasively in relation to American management theory, and as Brewster and Bournois (1991) have observed in their analysis of the “cultural hegemony” of Western human resource management (see also Easterby-Smith et al., 1995 and Guest, 1990). Perhaps because the impact of micro systems of organization and management are less visible to the naked eye and intuitively seem to be less damaging potentially to the wellbeing of nations, they have yet to arouse the same levels of resistance in developing countries as did “imposed” macro systems of governance. Indeed, in the micro domains of management there still may be more interest in the replication in developing countries of Western theory and practice than there is resistance to it (see e.g. Arthur et al., 1995; Kiggundu, 1989) However, as recognition grows of the centrality to development of well-managed public and private organizations (Esman, 1991; UNDP, 1995; Wallis, 1989), so too is it likely that the prescriptiveness and, in many cases, dysfunctionality of Western views when applied uncritically in developing countries will become more evident. The purpose of this paper is to encourage the early development of such critical insights by examining one aspect of the Western functionalist paradigm (Burrell and Morgan, 1979) of human resource management - transformational leadership - and comparing it with patterns of leadership observed in East Asia and Africa.

Differing cultures deserve respect. Too much has been made of the negative features of traditional societies and not ...